Health professionals' experiences of whistleblowing in maternal and newborn healthcare settings : A scoping review and thematic analysis

Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved..

PROBLEM: Whistleblowing, which involves raising concerns about wrongdoing, carries risks yet can be crucial to ensuring the safety of health service users in maternal and newborn healthcare settings. Understanding of the experiences of health care professionals that enact whistleblowing in this context is currently limited.

BACKGROUND: Notable inquiries involving maternity services such as those reported upon by Ockenden and Kirkup and the Lucy Letby case in the United Kingdom have shone an international spotlight on whistleblowing failures.

AIM: To identify and synthesise available literature addressing the experiences of healthcare professionals enacting whistleblowing in maternal and newborn care settings.

METHODS: This scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's framework. Five academic databases were systematically searched for documents published between January 2013 and October 2023 with additional searches of Google Scholar and related reference lists.

FINDINGS: Whilst 35 papers from international sources were identified, the majority originated from the United Kingdom, where recent high-profile incidents have occurred. Thematic analysis identified three main themes: 'Structural Power', 'Perfectionism' and 'Bravery, Hope and Disappointment', each with sub-themes.

DISCUSSION: Whistleblowing is frequently an altruistic act in a hierarchical system. It exposes poor practices and disrupts power dynamics, especially in challenging workplace cultures. Open disclosure, however, requires psychological safety. Obstacles persist, emphasising the need for a culture of trust and transparency led by individuals who embody the desired values.

CONCLUSION: Primary research on whistleblowing in maternal and newborn healthcare settings is limited. This study sheds light on power dynamics and factors that affect whistleblowing.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:37

Enthalten in:

Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives - 37(2024), 3 vom: 30. Apr., Seite 101593

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Capper, Tanya [VerfasserIn]
Ferguson, Bridget [VerfasserIn]
Muurlink, Olav [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Journal Article
Maternity care
Review
Safety and quality
Scoping review
Speaking up
Systematic Review
Whistleblowing

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 16.04.2024

Date Revised 16.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.wombi.2024.101593

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369137361